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some will say newer is better, less wear & tear & time on the drivers etc. but i think i have read the older k55-v mid driver is "better" than the k55-m, for whatever reason. sorry i dont know the dIfferences in the years & x-overs, but my suggestion is to keep ALL 4!

was wondering if anyone would get that

relatively new here, but i have noticed the time stamp or clock function of the forum is all over the place. on every post i make or see of others, it has no rhyme or reason to the actual time. for example i can make a post, then read some other posts for 10-15 minutes, but the stamp on that last post will say "1 minute ago" or sometimes it will be the opposite, i will make a post & after a few minutes it says it was posted 25 minutes ago. then in extreme cases i will see someone make a post & it will say it was done the previous day. not really sure whats going on or if its really any type of issue to worry about, just pointing that out.

no confusion on that. i said to have your better sounding amp on the mid/high section & a more powerfull (less sound quality) amp on the bass section that can use the higher power & sound "quality" isnt as important. wasnt saying it was just about power, its about better sound for the mid/tweet section & removing the demand put on that amp to produce bass. i agree you can do it the way you said too with stereo amps, but last i knew/heard/read the main benefit of bi-amping is lowering the demand on the amp to produce bass & letting it focus on the mid/tweet section... as stated, that is the more important part for overall sound quality.

very nice looking k-horns. love the oak finish too. make sure you seal them to the corners good. & hopefully you will get some expert advice on the bi amping. like i said, the ak-3 x-overs are different than most the older ones in that part of the x-over circutry is inside the bass bin & all connections are soldered, so you cant just run wires from a 2nd amp to the top mid/tweet horns i dont think. i am curious to hear what others say on biamping. not bi-wiring, true bi amping. one amp to the bass section & one to the mid/tweets. in theory this sounds like a win win option, you could run your better sounding amp or even a tube amp to the mid/tweets & then a powerfull amp to the bass bins that can really use that power & the quality of the mid-high range sound isnt as important. hope you get some input on that. let us know your opinions after you listen to them a bit.

i agree zep4 sounds pretty bad. nobodys fault is pretty "good" at best, but the 3 songs off zep2 are pretty good up loud. i stand corrected on zepplin being a "quality" recording, but some sounds good up loud. i have the same ac/dc album i will have to try out too. as for formats, i should have clarified, i mainly play cd's but have a decent turntable & collection of 70's & 80's rock records. also have the SACD/DVD-A player i mentioned, i will have to look into some of the SACD stuff listed. so mainly looking for cd's i can get cheap at amazon or ebay. or just to pull from my collection if i have it. all but the zepplin i listed sounds very good. i just tried one of the suggestions i happen to have, paul simon graceland. one of my favs & owned it for 20 years. but i must say, never heard it like this before, this is THE best recording so far i have played throught these speakers! seriously impressive & a lot of the "harshness" i mentioned in another post is just gone. sounds very nice at all volumes & up loud you hear the bass player & kick drums like you are there. & the horn instruments played through a horn speaker sound great. if all recordings sounded like this i'd be very happy.

im assuming we can nominate ourelves? myself: WHAT??? https://community.klipsch.com/index.php?/topic/148249-how-loud-do-you-listen/?p=1692648

hi, i just got a pair of almost identical k-horns, mid 90's with the ak-3 x-overs. mine are oiled walnut. i inquired about bi-amping & the replies i got said its not worth it. they are so efficient that one good quality amp will be more than enough. also if you look at the x-over, bi-amping isnt as simple as it looks. the main input feeds the woofer & inside the bass bin is a coil of some sort that sends the rest of the signal on to the main x-over & then to the mids & tweets. so i think you would need an external x-over or something in line from a 2nd amp that feeds the mid/tweet sections. im sure some of the experts will chime in & confirm exactly how that works. i wanted to try bi-amping initially too as i have a few extra amps i could use, but after hooking them up to just one 200wpc amp, i find its more than enough to drive these things to concert levels & its still barelly pushing 50 watts. my 165wpc onkyo with the power level meters said i was barely hitting 50w peaks at about as loud as i could take it... & i listen to music LOUD! try it out with just a single amp first & you will be surprised at just how much volume you get with such low power levels. also if you havent researched, you need to make sure they are sealed tight into corners. if you dont have the sealing strips on the verticle tailboard, go out & buy some 1/2" pipe insulation, it seals them to the walls how they were designed, really improves the bass. check out some of my recent threads on my k-horns, lots of good info provided. congrats on the new speakers!

thats an excellent price for a good working 504. they consistantly hit $450-$500 on ebay.

great list of music, thanks. aside from "pull my finger" rush will be a definate add. & if you liked toto they are worth a listen again for sure. his voice isnt my fav but the band & music they produce is top notch. & their drummer jeff porcoro (rip) is one of the all time best drummers, he did a few studio appearances with steely dan & many other bands of that era. the songs africa, rosanna, hold the line & georgy porgey are incredible up loud. also a huge paul simon fan, havent tried my graceland cd yet but its at the top of the list. thanks again for the input, should be more than enough to keep me busy for awhile.

thanks for the suggestions, never heard of quite a few of them, i will have to spend some time checking them out. as stated i do have to like the music or song i listen to, but like broccoli, you never know if you like it untill you try it! led zepplin? yes i agree not considered hifi, but remember i do like to listen to most my music somewhat on the louder side. listen to mobydick, ramble on or bring it on home off led zepplin II, or the song nobodys fault but mine, bad or good recordings, they sound very good up loud, it really brings the k-horns alive... agreed on the wish you were here, floyd is probably my favorite band, if i had to pick just one. i have a nice onkyo sacd/dvda player, will have to look for some of those discs, im sure they sound about as goood as you can get for digital music. thanks again for the suggestions, i will check each of them out to see what i like.

curious what others opinions are on available quality recordings. as some may know i am a new owner of new to me k-horns. i am searching for some good recordings to continue my "testing" of these speakers. i mainly listen to classic or newer rock & roll, nothing too heavy, some "oldies" but am always open to anything besides country or rap.... just things that sound good at most volume levels, especially louder than "normal" heres what i have found to be excellent recordings so far. some songs are better than others for whatever reason: some led zepplin pink floyd the wall & dark side of the moon fleetwood mac steely dan eagles police toto dire straits supertramp only tested a fraction of my collection so far. & i just heard for the first time on youtube nora jones, i can only imagine what she will sound like on the k-horns. i dont think the worst recording can ruin her voice, just like linda ronstadt & a select few others. feel free to list your favorite recordings, not just what artist you like, what recordings sound good.

its a long thread but i think i mention my electronics a few times, & theres another active thread listing all my gear. its all mid-fi s/s. no seperate DAC at this time, just whats in the adcom gcd600 cd player, says its all "class A analog circutry." & i also tried my onkyo gear thats supposed to be all burr/brown DAC in the receiver. oldschool adcom preamp & cd player sounds much better in my system & room limitations. only going on week 3 of owning the k-horns & minimal listening. i'm quite content at normal volumes & even get that WOW factor, its just up louder, approaching concert levels that i hear the "issues" thats a good price for stock 401's. after selling them (if thats a normal price & not a fluke) $165 is much more reasonable to upgrade the horns. might consider that in teh near future. thanks.

well, mine is definantly the 401 horn. thanks for the pic. is the 401 "better" than the 400? would love to upgrade the horn itself but $465 is just too rich for my blood right now. i expected the holy grail of audio when i bought the k-horns, wish i knew they had this many well known "faults." but i didnt do much research before i bought them. i did post a "opinions of cf-4 vs k-horns" thread before i bought them but it was dead in the water for some unknown reason..... thanks again for all the input on this thread, i learned more than i had hoped for.

it was originally $800 for all 3, if he sold the fortes he neglected to change the description... still a pretty goood deal for chorus & quartets. i see chorus's sell for ~$600 by themselves. that means someone got the fortes for ~$200. lucky ducks.

i sensed the sarcasm, however, if i am out of town & lock my door, my friends would have to pick the lock to get in. & most would know how to do that as they are my friends & probably helped or watch me do it a couple times. he could have been serious.

yeah but those are $2500. & besides the fortes the other speakers are a dime a dozen. $600 for chorus, forte & quartets with upgrades is unheard of! these are at your friends house??? go buy them! or buy them for me untill we can arrange shipping.

ok i'm po'd i dont live anywhere near these or they would be mine like yesterday! i already emailed the seller & asked to ship, he will not do it even if i schedule a pick up via fedex. if this is legit & it sounds like it is, someone better run to get these! or if by chance someone close would be willing to pick them up & work with me for shipping i will forward teh cash now! but i know once i post the link they will be gone by someone in the area. all 3 in the family plus upgrades, chorus, forte & quartets. deal of the century for sure!!!! go get em. http://boston.craigslist.org/bmw/ele/4328073879.html

understood, but you dont hear countless posts about fortes or chorus sounding harsh in the mids or all this aftermarket stuff like wood horns etc. they all have the ti tweets available to improve the phenolic diaphram, but aside from that you just dont hear people talk about needing mods or upgrades to the rest of the heritage or other vintage lines. as an owner of the fortes & previous epic cf-4, & even the kg5.5's, i can say without a doubt that i never had a problem with the mid horns sounding edgy or harsh. in fact the fortes are just about perfect in stock form, same with the epics. i can turn them up to the upper levels & be amazed at how well rounded all the ranges are. everything seems perfectly balanced, no overwhelming mids or anything like that. same gear, same recordings, & some recordings that sound great on the fortes sound terrible on the k-horns. again maybe its the super high efficiency of the k-horn or the fact that the horns are so big in my small room. i wish they made a folded horn chorus or forte! i have done some lower level listening & i will say the k-horns sound excellent at lower to mid volumes, very impressive.... but past a certain volume point the mids just overwhelm everything else & they loose their stereo seperation & clarity that i love about my fortes & former cf-4's. could it be the tractrix design of the horns? what exctly is tractrix anyways?

yes i looked at the wood horns, they look very nice. however i cant swing ~$500 for a pair of horns at this time. after sealing them to the wall, adding a bit more bass on the adcoms tone controls & lowering the volume a tad, there is a great improvement. i feel "fixing the bass" has helped the problem i was hearing a lot. obviously there is still room for improvements but i will have to leave everything as is for quite awhile. i will say however, that if the k-horns are so great, there sure is a lot of discussion on improving "faults" & "issues" with everything besides the bass section. they are great speakers in stock form but you dont hear anywhere near as much talk about the other heritage speakers, very few people spend hundreds or thousands of dollars to improve the forte or chorus or heresy etc. wonder why the flagship k-horn has so many mods to improve on stuff???

series one are the "better" ones with 6" ports. looking at the pics of these they are definantly the 2.5" ports, series 2 or 3. still a great deal.

looking at the ports, those are series 2 or 3. definantly not 6" ports... still a good price though.

i have owned a pair of the kg5.5's for a long time, the only issue with them is some cabinets suffered from loose back boards that would vibrate at very high volumes. if yours dont vibrate thats great, IMO they dont need any braceing unless you plan to drive them to extremes. being they are a ported enclosure the braceing isnt needed as much as a sealed cabinet, most the air & bass waves leave through the ports. while you are in there you might want to run a thick bead of PL type glue such as liquid nails, or better yet gorilla glue along the seams. that will ensure the front & back boards dont work their way loose. they already have a decent amount of foam for dampening, maybe add another 2-3ft section but that wont change much of what you hear, i tried many years ago with a big piece of the egg crate acoustic foam... didnt hear any noticeable difference. i also think if the x-overs sound ok, meaning no loss of treble etc, they are probably fine. but if you feel the need simply replace the caps with equal values & a step up in quality available from parts express or many other online sources, or even a local radio shack. but bobs kit is decently priced. the titanium tweeters will make a world of difference over the stock tweeters. but as you know these speakers sound very good in stock form, i feel they are the most underated klipsch speaker there is, new or used. i have fortes also & they sound just about as good besides a fuller warmer mid section, but they have a tad more bass due to the dual 10" woofers. unless you dont like how they sound or there is a problem with something in the x-overs, i think the ti tweet is all thats needed to improve the sound. unless you want to spend hundreds of dollars on each pair, but if you dont like the sound, sell them & spend that money to upgrade to another speaker like a forte or chorus or others in the heritage line. & some guys like the newer gold woofer RF seriers, all are availble for good deals in the used market. hard to beat a paid for set of kg 5.5's IMO.

awsome info guys, thanks again. quiet hollow, i think you nailed it on the head... its definantly about the bass energy & feeling the lower levels. there is only so much mid & high you can take, to add a full bottom end is the key. & on that note, today is the first time i listened with the speakers sealed properly with pipe foam on the tailboard & horizontal top board. major difference. it doesnt need to go as high on the volume knob to get the overall impact i'm looking for. also the adcom preamp im using is much better than most AVR in how they boost the bass, AVR's are way too high in the freq range, the adcom specifically says their bass controls are much lower & the loudness or "contour" button boosts only very low freq & tapers off as the volume increases. so its like an EQ of sorts & boosts the bass without touching the mids & highs. so on certain music/recordings that need it, it does a very good job. now that they are sealed right the bass responce is much better & seems to have helped the harshness i was hearing. although my x-overs & drivers have soldered connections everywhere so i cant resett the connectors & shouldnt need to, but i plan to replace the o-rings as one mid driver was loose i assume from deterioration, i tightened it up for now but will get new ones asap. curmudgeon: i agree that the k-horns are just so revealing what im hearing is not a defect per say in the speaker, just never noticed it on my other speakers, klipsc or otherwise, they just weren't as efficient as the k-horns. i may look into adding a sub to fill in the bottom end that way i wont have to go as high on the volume that may be a lot of the harshness i was hearing. i've wanted these since i was a teenager & heard them at my local high end audio store & now that i own them, i dont plan on parting with them anytime soon. thanks again for everyones input. i will consider this a closed matter while i do some more testing & tuning.

thanks again for the input. i did correct my db levels & admit they are a guess, i have no meter to confirm as of yet. but i do know what live concert levels are & at the max volumes i play occasionally i know its getting close. trust that none of the big name rock bands play a concert in a big venue of 3000+ people with 105db, its always very close to 115+, when you leave your ears are ringing untill the next day! like i said i only do that for a couple minutes every now & then. but there is nothing like zepplin or pink floyd or any good classic rock up that loud. just makes you smile, although im sure other softer stuff at lower levels can have that same affect. nora jones & linda ronstadt make me smile on my little computer speakers! its also very possible that teh room is overloading &/or my ears, i know certain things at higher volumes can cause your ear to distort before the source is actually distorting. tubes are not an option right now so i agree quality s/s gear should be fine for the type of music i listen to & the volumes it sees sometimes. i will definantly mess with it & report back. some higher dollar mods like x-overs may be down the road but for now im sure i can make what i have work.